Doug Simpson—Website: dcsimpson.info

Balaam refuses Balak’s offer of rewards in exchange for cursing Israel.

(Numbers 22:1-21)

Introduction

Green Moun ta in 1 s t Ward , Lakewood , Co lo rado

A study of this

lesson will

encourage us to

submit to God’s

will without

hesitation.

Lesson Highlights

Balaam refuses

Balak’s offer of

rewards in

exchange for

cursing Israel.

The Lord shows

the danger of

Balaam’s stubborn

insistence on his

own will.

Balaam refuses to

curse Israel.

The Israelites

destroy the

Midianites and

slay Balaam.

After Balaam refused to come to Moab, Balak sent a second group of men, more impressive than the first, to

try to persuade him.

Numbers 22:15-19 – Obvi-ously, Balaam was tempted by this second offer. Balak offered ―very great honor‖. Being tempted, Ba-laam wanted to petition the

Numbers 22:5-7 – Because he was terrified by the ap-proach of the Israelites, Balak, king of Moab, dis-patched messengers to offer Balaam rewards if he would journey to Moab and curse Israel so that Balak could

drive them out of the land.

Numbers 22:8-14 tells us that Balaam responded by

refusing to go curse the Israelites because the Lord would not allow him to do

so.

We are sometimes offered ―rewards‖ to disobey God. Balaam was tempted by the promised rewards, but we should resolve that riches and the honors of

men will not tempt us.

2 May 2010

Lesson 16 “I Cannot Go Beyond the Word of the Lord”

(Numbers 22–24; 31:1–16)

Page 1

Next Week

Read the following statements and think about

the type of person who

would make them:

―If [the king] would give me

his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my

God‖ (Numbers 22:18).

―All that the Lord speaketh,

that I must do‖ (Numbers

23:26).

―I cannot go beyond the

commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I

speak‖ (Numbers 24:13).

These statements might suggest that the person was obedient, faithful, and

humble.

These statements were made by a man named Balaam, who professed strict obedience but in his heart desired earthly rewards and honors. This lesson shows the consequences of stubbornly insisting on our own will to

fulfill such desires.

#17 ―Beware Lest Thou

Forget‖ - Deuteronomy 6;

8; 11; 32

The Angel Apearing to Balaam Gustov Dore

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The Lord shows the danger of Balaam’s stubborn insistence on his

own will. (Numbers 22:22-35)

Numbers 22:22-30 – On his way to Moab, Balaam tried three times to force his don-key forward while the don-key balked because of the angel who blocked the way. Demonstrating his stub-bornness, Balaam wanted to force his own will on the don-key and the Lord. Just as the donkey saw the angel and Balaam did not, the Lord saw many things that Balaam

refused to see.

If we examine some common situations in our day, we see modern parallels of both individuals and groups stub-bornly trying to do what they

want to do rather than sub-mitting to God’s will or the righteous counsel of parents or leaders. As examples: 1. A child, unhappy with the answer from Mom goes to Dad seeking a different answer, 2. A member of the Church, unsatisfied with the counsel of a priesthood leader, seeks out another priesthood leader, 3. A member of the Church ra-tionalizes that a command-ment doesn’t apply to him or her as it does to other mem-

bers.

Numbers 22:31-35 -The Lord chastened Balaam

through the mouth of the ass and the angel. Balaam de-cided to return home, but the angel told him to continue, but to remember that he should only do as com-

manded by the Lord.

D&C 95:1 explains why God chastens his children—because he loves them, will forgive them with chastening, and will prepare a way out

of the temptations.

God’s chastening can be a blessing to us—if we accept it humbly, seeking forgive-ness and direction on how to turn our lives around and become exacting in our

obedience.

Balaam refuses to curse Israel. (Numbers 22:36-24:25)

If we place ourselves in temptation’s path, we will be confronted with unrighteous suggestions from friends, acquaintances, or the media. Eventually, our resistance can be worn down and we can succumb to temptations that we otherwise would not have

considered.

After Balaam arrived in Moab, Balak asked him three times to curse Is-rael. Each time the Lord told Balaam to bless Israel, and

Balaam obeyed.

Numbers 22:38; 23:8, 19-20; 24:1, 12-13 – Balaam continues to tell Balak that he must say what God com-mands and he will not go

beyond that.

Numbers 22:41; 23:1-3, 13-15, 27-30 - Even though he had refused to curse Israel as Balak requested, weak-ness was still evident in Ba-laam as he followed Balak from place to place and listened to his requests even though he knew that they

were wrong.

Lord again. Perhaps he was hoping that the Lord would change his mind and allow him to accept the rewards offered by Balak, but at this point, he said, ―…I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord

my God…‖ (22:18).

As Joseph Smith found out centuries later when he asked the Lord about the 116 pages of the Book of Mor-

mon manuscript, there are dangers in persistently seek-ing an exception to God’s directions. As we examine the things we petition the Lord to allow us to do, are we some-times persistent in an unwor-

thy cause?

Numbers 22:20-22 - The Lord gave permission for Balaam to go with Balak’s messengers if he so desired,

but the Lord was angry with Balaam for going because he knew what was in Balaam’s

heart.

2 Peter 2:15; Isaiah 29:13 – Here, we are told that Ba-laam “loved the wages of unrighteousness” and Isaiah reminds us that some, like Balaam, will draw near with their lips while their hearts

are far away.

The Israelites destroy the Midianites and slay Balaam. (Numbers 31:1-16)

Numbers 31:1-3 – Moses sent forth warriors to destroy the Midianites because the Lord was angry with them for enticing the children of Israel to sin as recorded in Numbers 25:1-3. It was Ba-laam who had counseled the

Midianites to tempt the chil-dren of Israel to participate in idol worship and sexual

immorality.

Numbers 31:16 – Balaam’s counsel had caused the chil-dren of Israel to trespass

against the Lord. Although Balaam obeyed the Lord to bless rather than curse Israel, in his heart he wanted earthly honors and tangible rewards. To receive his de-sired rewards, Balaam sug-gested tempting Israel to sin,

"VERILY, thus saith

the Lord unto you

whom I love, and

whom I love I also

chasten that their sins

may be forgiven, for

with the chastisement

I prepare a way for

their deliverance in

all things out of

temptation, and I

have loved you— "

(D&C 95:1)

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Conclusion

If Balaam had humbly submitted to God’s will, much sin and suffering would have been avoided for himself and for Israel. We should be steadfast rather than stubborn—to seek and

follow the Lord’s will without trying to get around it or change it.

Gospel Doctrine

Notebook Record your thoughts on the teachings discussed in

this lesson.

What are some

modern examples of groups stubbornly trying to do what they wan rather than submitting to God’s will or to righteous counsel

of parents or leaders?

Why did the Israelites

go to war against the

Midianites?

What lessons have you

learned from this story?

marvelous it would be [for him] to be rich and power-ful… Perhaps the Lord would let him compromise his stan-dards and have some worldly prosperity and power. …I wonder how often some of us get our direction from the Church and then, Balaam-like, plead for some worldly re-

wards…

“Balaam…inspired and mighty as he once was, lost his soul in the end because he set his heart on the things of this world rather than the riches of eternity” (New Era, Apr.

1972, 7).

Although Balaam pretended to be strictly obedient, the desires of his heart were to receive earthly rewards and honors. As we consider his example, we need to keep the desires of our heart pure so that we do not make Ba-

laam’s mistakes.

causing them to lose the

Lord’s protection.

Numbers 31:8 – During the battle, Balaam was slain by the warriors of Israel along with the kings of the Midia-nites. As Balaam had con-spired to bring death upon the Israelites, he ultimately

reaped what he sowed.

2 Peter 2:15-16; Jude 1:11; Revelation 2:14 – New Tes-tament writers gave their impressions of Balaam as one who loved unrighteous-ness and was rebuked for his iniquity; a greedy seeker of reward; and one who cast a stumbling block before Is-rael, enticing them to commit

sin.

Lessons we can learn from this story include: Members of the Church who seek earthly rewards and honors,

who seek exceptions to God’s counsel and command-ments, or who try to intro-duce worldly ideas, prac-tices, or standards into the Church are following Ba-laam’s unrighteous exam-ple. This is called the “doctrine of Balaam” in

Revelation 2:14.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie said: “What a story this is! Here is a prophet of God who is firmly committed to declare only what the Lord of heaven directs. There does not seem to be the slightest doubt in his mind about the course he should pursue. He represents the Lord, and neither a house full of gold and silver nor the high honors offered by the king can sway him from his

determined course…

“Bur greed for wealth and lust for honor beckon him. How

Additional Teaching

We can learn from Balaam the importance of obeying the Lord. We can also learn this from the good examples of many other men and women in the scriptures. You may want to refer to the

following examples:

a. The Savior, aware of the agony before him in Gethsemane and on the cross, ―kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: never-theless not my will, but thine, be done‖ (Luke

22:41–42).

b. When Abraham was com-manded to sacrifice his son Isaac, he ―rose up early in the morning‖ to begin the journey to Mount Moriah (Genesis

22:3).

c. When Mary was told that she would be the mother of the Son of God, she

responded, ―Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to

thy word‖ (Luke 1:38).

d. When Nephi was in-structed to return to Jeru-salem to get the brass plates from Laban, he immediately responded, ―I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded‖ (1 Nephi

3:7).

e. The sons of Helaman were successful in battle because ―they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness‖ (Alma

57:21).

Obeying the Lord

"And if thou art

faithful unto the

end thou shalt

have a crown of

immortality, and

eternal life in the

mansions which I

have prepared in

the house of my

Father. " (D&C 81:6)